Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
10 I said, “Must I leave in the prime of my life?
Must I be consigned to the control[a] of Sheol?[b]
Bitter are[c] my years!”
11 I said, “I won’t see the Lord[d] in the land of the living;
and[e] I’ll no longer observe human beings
among the denizens of the grave.[f]
12 My house has been plucked up and vanishes[g] from me
like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver, I’ve taken account of[h] my life,
and he cuts me off from the loom—
day and night you make an end of me.
13 I’ve been swept bare[i] until morning;
just like a lion, he breaks all my bones—
day and night you make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow or a crane I chirp,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes look weakly upward.
O Lord,[j] I am oppressed, so[k] stand up for me!
15 What can I say, so I tell myself,[l]
since he has done this to me?[m]
I will walk slowly all my years
because of my soul’s anguish.
16 “My Lord is against them, yet they live,
and among all of them who live is his spirit.[n]
Now you have restored me to health,
so let me live!
17 Yes, it was for my own good
that I suffered extreme anguish.[o]
But in love you have held back[p] my life
from the Pit[q] in which it has been confined;[r]
you have tossed all my sins
behind your back.
18 For Sheol[s] cannot thank you,
death cannot[t] sing your praise;
and[u] those who go down to the Pit[v] cannot hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living—yes the living—they thank you,
just as I am doing today;
fathers will tell their children
about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,[w]
and we will play my music on strings
all the days of our lives
in the Lord’s Temple.[x]
9 In response, the Philistines went up, encamped in the territory of[a] Judah, and raided[b] Lehi.
10 The leading[c] men of Judah asked, “Why have you invaded us?”
They replied, “We’re here to arrest Samson. Then we’re going to do to him what he did to us.”
11 In response, 3,000 soldiers from the tribe of Judah went down to the caves of the rock of Etam and asked Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines have us in their control? What have you done to us?”
“I did to them what they did to me,” he answered.
12 They responded, “We’ve come here to arrest you and transfer you to the custody of the Philistines.”
Samson told them, “Promise me that you won’t kill me.”
13 So they said, “No, we won’t. But we’re going to tie you up securely and transfer you to their custody. But we won’t kill you.” Then they bound him with two ropes and brought him up from the caves.[d]
Samson Kills 1,000 Philistines
14 When Samson[e] arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, so that the ropes that bound him were like flax that’s been burned by fire, and his bonds dissolved. 15 He happened upon a jawbone from a putrefying donkey, reached out to grab it, and killed 1,000 men with it. 16 Then Samson declared,
“With a jawbone from the donkey—
here a heap, there a pair of heaps—[f]
with the jawbone of the donkey
I’ve killed 1,000 men.”
17 When he finally finished bragging, he discarded the jawbone and named that place “Jawbone Heights.”[g]
18 Aferward, he became thirsty, called out to the Lord, and told him, “So, you provided this great deliverance at the hands[h] of your servant, but now I’m to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split a hollow place that’s in Lehi, and water sprang out of it. After he had taken a drink, his strength returned, and he revived. That’s why it was named “En-hakkore,”[i] which is in Lehi to this day. 20 Samson[j] governed Israel for twenty years during the Philistine domination.
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon(A)
14 As they approached the crowd, a man came up to Jesus,[a] knelt down in front of him, 15 and said, “Sir,[b] have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and suffers terribly. Often he falls into fire and often into water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”
17 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverted generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed that very hour.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He told them, “Because of your lack of faith.[c] I tell all of you[d] with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.”[e]
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